Morgan Leininger

Join Date 06/2002

Start11 on Win 10 22H2 (OS BUild 19045.2604) doesn't show pinned & recently used apps much of the time

Takes 30 seconds to a minutes, after which they load

I have used Start 10 & then Start 11 for many years, and typically am very happy with it. However, this issue which definitely occurs w/ Start 11 1.39.1, is super annoying. I rely on the millisecond access of the start menu, which is why I am happy to pay Stardock to get that speed and simplicity back (and at such a reasonable price point ).

Now after every single reboot, and back from hibernation, and often randomly while just using the computer, the list of pinned apps and recently used apps is blank. If I just leave it open, it takes between 30 seconds to a minute to populate. This is on a very new Dell Precision 7760 workstation w/ 32 gig of ram. And only started occurring within the past month or so.

] Start 11 w/ blank pinned & frequently used

Also, of some importance, the frequently used app section now includes lots of copies of plain old "Explorer", which is so not useful. Minor compared to the big bug above, but still annoying. Do not recall that in previous versions.

Multipe Exporer entries in Frequently Used Apps section

start menu products

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Hello,
Sorry to hear you are having issues. But, I can't reproduce your issue on my system. Please try this. Uninstall Start11, reboot immediately after, download the latest Start11 V1.4 Beta from your account page. Install that version, reboot immediately after. Retest and report back.

Thanks
Basj,
Stardock Community Assistant.

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Hi Basj,

Thanks for responding.

Followed the steps precisely, with the same result. Every boot, resume, and intermittently thru regular usage, the main list of pinned programs starts of blank, and only loads if I don't click anything else, and leave the menu open for 30 - 60 seconds.

Then it's populated for a bit, but goes blank again every few uses (3 -5)

If I just leave the beta version installed, will it pick up the update when you push this to the stable channel? Or do I have to uninstall the beta and reinstall the stable build to ensure I'm notified of updates to the stable branch?

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Hello,

Does any of your pinned application link to network share or cloud storage? If it does, as a test temporary remove them and see if it help. Also, you can remove one at the time and add it back later those pinned application and see if any of them is causing the issue.

As for the alpha, you can click "Check now.." button on Start11 Config Windows "About" tab to check if there is a new update. Or Visit The Start11 forum. There usually will be a pinned thread announcing new release and for feedbacks.

https://forums.stardock.com/forum/1148

Thank you,

Basj,
Stardock Community Assistant

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Greetings,

No, none of the pinned apps link to network share nor cloud storage. All standard, local computer apps, which have been pinned for something going on a decade now (counting the Start10 years).

I have had to revert to using OpenShell, which is working well; pinned programs, frequently used (without filling up with repeating Explorer entries), and search all work fine w/out ridiculously long delays . Rather disappointing as overall Start10/11 is my preferred solution as it's a bit prettier and simpler for most users to configure. But for me, having to wait 30-60 seconds to get to my pinned and most frequently used apps is a deal breaker when work presses.

FYI, already tried complete uninstall, remove settings, reboot, reinstall cycles w/ both the stable release & the beta. Same results.

Would be willing to report further debug details if you guys want to fix this and can point the way to how to be helpful. Your code is an amazing value for the price, and clearly you would like it to work for everybody since you actually respond to trouble reports. Given that MS is essentially openly hostile to users who want to maintain decades long workflows, I don't envy you trying to keep up w/ their latest monkey wrench thrown into the code gears.

Thanks for your time,
Morgan
🙏

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From what I can remember there is no report from others that it take 30-60 seconds for pinned item to show up specially for Start menu as light/small as yours. Can you try cleanboot and see if the issue still happening: https://forums.stardock.com/505872/start11-support-faq#cleanboot

Thank you,

Basj,
Stardock Community Assistant

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I had to uninstall Start11 and install OpenShell (open source software which is similar) as with a big code push going on this week, no time to not have working start menu, nor continue troubleshooting.

I will hopefully be able to uninstall OpenShell, reinstall Start11, and test w/ a clean boot this weekend.

Thanks again for attempting to solve this issue.

Best Regards,
Morgan
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